WILLIAM SHATNER, LEONARD NIMOY, PATRICK STEWART, CARRIE FISHER AND OTHER CELEBRITIES LEND THEIR VOICES TO “SOUND OFF FOR AUTISM SPEAKS” FUNDRAISING EFFORT

December 4, 2012

Fans Can Get a Customized Recorded Message from Their Favorite Celebrity by Making a $299 Donation to Support Autism Research and Advocacy

NEW YORK, N.Y. (December 4, 2012) – “Sound Off For Autism Speaks site is live this week as fans have the unique gift opportunity to order a limited number of custom-recorded messages from Morgan Freeman, Ed Asner, Betty White, Tom Hanks, Derek Jeter, Leonard Nimoy, Will Ferrell, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart and Carrie Fisher, in return for a $299 donation. All proceeds will support autism research and advocacy efforts through Autism Speaks®, the worlds leading autism science and advocacy organization.

Celebrity messages are available for purchase this week only, December 3 – 9, at SoundOffForAutismSpeaks.com. A limited number of messages are available from each celebrity on a first come, first served basis. Fans have the unique opportunity to specify what they want their chosen celebrity to say in the message. Autism Speaks® will send fans a digital file of their message within a few weeks of their order after being recorded by their celebrity.

I got together with my son Matt (Autism Speaks Executive Director for Southern California) and we talked about what my friends and I could do to support the important work of Autism Speaks, said Ed Asner, who is currently starring on Broadway in Grace. We decided that bringing together a group of celebrities with great voices and doing a kind of voiceathon would be a really fun idea that could help individuals with autism and their families.

About Autism
Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders  autism spectrum disorders  caused by a combination of genes and environmental influences. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by communication difficulties, social and behavioral challenges, as well as repetitive behaviors. An estimated 1 in 88 children in the U.S. is on the autism spectrum  a 78 percent increase in six years that is only partly explained by improved diagnosis.

About Autism Speaks®
Autism Speaks® is the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization. It is dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Autism Speaks® was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child with autism. Mr. Wright is the former vice chairman of General Electric and chief executive officer of NBC and NBC Universal. Since its inception, Autism Speaks® has committed over $180 million to research and developing innovative resources for families. Each year Walk Now for Autism Speaks events are held in more than 95 cities across North America. On the global front, Autism Speaks® has established partnerships and related activities in over 40 countries on 5 continents to foster international research, services and awareness. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit www.AutismSpeaks.org.

For Facebook: Facebook.com/AutismSpeaks
For Twitter: @AutismSpeaks

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Daniel “Julius Marx” Pickett has been around toys his whole life. The first line he ever collected was Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes line back in the 70s. He has been surrounded by collectables ever since.
In 1999 he was confounded by a lack of information and news about some of his favorite toy lines he was collecting. Since he couldn’t find the information he decided to pursue it himself thinking other people might also be interested in the same news. He started writing a weekly column on the toy industry and action figure for a toy news site and in a years time he tripled the sites daily traffic with his updates, reviews and product features.
He built relationships with every major toy manufacturer and many sculptors, painters and mold makers. He grew his hobby into a world wide expertise that the industry has embraced.
In 2004 he teamed up with his toy buddy Jason “ToyOtter” Geyer and they created their own website www.ActionFigureInsider.com.
Daniel has been quoted in both industry and mass media press outlets. Over the years Daniel and AFi have been sought out as experts in the field. Daniel was regularly featured on “Attack of the Show” on the G4 network as the primary contributor to their “Mint On Card” segment, and our front page has been linked to from USA Today’s
“Pop Candy” Blog twice. Daniel’s content has also been featured on MSNBC.com, Time.com, The Wall Street Journal, The Saturday Evening Post, CNN.com, AssociatedPress.com
Wired.com, Fark.com, Boing-Boing, Gizmodo.com, Ain’t It Cool News, the Official
Star Wars blog, Geekologie, G4, CNet and Toy Fare magazine, among many
others. He has consulted on toy lines, books, documentaries and TV shows.
But all of that really just sounds snooty and “tootin’ his own horn” – the long and short of it is that Daniel loves toys and he LOVES talking about them.